Newsman: Underscoring that the threat of domestic terrorism “is persistent,” the new Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, Domestic terrorism is “one of the greatest threats” to the United States, He said the department will continue to work with its state and local partners to combat it. The secretary conceded that one of the challenges is identifying “where the line between hateful rhetoric and hateful action takes place.”
Alejandro Mayorkas sworn in as the Homeland Security Secretary on Tuesday. He is the first Latino and immigrant on this position. He is also the first Senate-confirmed Homeland Security secretary in nearly two years.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an interview with CNN’s Ana Cabrera that aired on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,”
“To see the insurrection, the horrific acts of January 6, were not only personally devastating, but created in me a commitment to redouble our efforts, to fight hate and to fight one of the greatest threats that we face currently on our homeland, which is the threat of domestic terrorism.”
Mayorkas appeared to choke up when asked about what had gone through his mind when he heard the cries of children who had been taken from their parents under the Trump administration.
“I am a father. I am a husband. I am a son. I am a brother. I have not heard before a pain as acute and heartbreaking as that, and it is our commitment to make sure that pain is not felt again,” he said.
“Our responsibility is to reunite the families and to support and facilitate their healing,” Mayorkas said, adding that that could include health care and using authorities in the immigration system.
The Department of Homeland Security is also at the forefront of responding to the coronavirus pandemic and helping to enforce the use of masks.
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“The enforcement of these directives is quite frankly a challenge. We rely, at least in part, upon the voluntary compliance of the American public. Let the death toll itself be a mandate to people to wear masks, to distance appropriately, to take the precautions that are required to protect the health and well-being of one another,” he told CNN.
Mayorkas, also told CNN “The cruelty of the prior administration has come to an end.”
